August is a precarious month for the film industry; nestled between the blockbuster summer schedule and the advantageous awards season of fall, it’s a quiet time for big budget fare. Though not quite the dumping ground of, say, February, it’s mostly a breather month – a calm before the prestige storm, and where studios can test their less-trusted properties.

It may evade easy categorization, but August can be a stellar month for film. It’s the season of R-rated comedies, violent road movies, and experiments. Some of the best mainstream films of the last 25 years came out in Leo season. We chose 15 of our favorite August releases, films that exceeded expectations – some economically, some critically, and some that linger on for less discernible reasons.

The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is the kind of fun, self-aware, stylish summer popcorn movie we don’t see often enough. Director Guy Ritchie‘s adaptation of Sam Rolfe‘s television series is one charismatic film with three leads we wouldn’t mind watching save the world, in impeccable style, every couple of years. Unfortunately, the slick action-comedy didn’t perform as well as it should’ve at the box-office back in 2015, making the odds of a sequel appear unlikely.

The makers of the film are still keen on bringing back Napoleon Solo (Henry Cavill) and Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) though. According to Hammer, the original film’s co-writer is currently writing a sequel. Below, read what the Free Fire star had to say about The Man From UNCLE sequel.

It’s really a shame that Man of Steel didn’t give Henry Cavill much room to show off his charm, because as the new trailer for Guy Ritchie‘s The Man From U.N.C.L.E. shows, he’s got it in spades. The big-screen remake of the ’60s series stars Cavill as CIA agent Napoleon Solo, who’s forced to team with KGB agent Illya Kuryakin (Armie Hammer) to, I don’t know, save the world or something.

The specifics of the plot aren’t important. The key thing is that it offers Cavill and Hammer an excuse to engage in snarky banter, wear sharp suits, drive cool cars, and blow up shiny things. Alicia Vikander, Elizabeth Debicki, and Hugh Grant also star. Watch the new The Man From UNCLE trailer, and check out a new poster, after the jump.

April isn’t even 48 hours old but at the movie theater, summer has already begun. With tonight’s opening of Furious 7, the trend of major blockbusters opening well before the first weekend in May continues. Fast Five, The Hunger Games and Captain America: The Winter Soldier are a few recent examples; next year, Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice will open over a month before the traditional first weekend of summer. Let’s face it. It might be Spring outside, but it’s Summer at the movies.

With that in mind, the /Film crew decided to rank our most anticipated films of the season. Everyone on staff (Peter, Russ, Angie, David, Devindra, Angie, Chris, and myself) ranked their 20 most anticipated movies of summer 2015, those rankings were given point values, and then an overall list was created.

Want to see new photos from four of the biggest upcoming movies of the year? Of course you do. USA Today recently wrote an article called “The geekiest movies for 2015” and included photos of several of the big films: Star Wars: The Force Awakens, Jurassic World, Crimson Peak and more. Those, however, we’d already seen. The paper had new photos of Terminator Genisys, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Mad Mad: Fury Road and The Man from U.N.C.L.E.Check them out below. Read More »

After a long development period that saw seemingly every big-name actor and director in Hollywood attached at one point, Warner Bros.’ The Man From U.N.C.L.E. is finally inching closer to release. And we have the picture to prove it.

The studio has released the first image from Guy Ritchie‘s spy flick, starring Henry Cavill as CIA agent Napoleon Solo and Armie Hammer as KGB agent Illya Kuryakin. Alicia Vikander also stars. Get your The Man From UNCLE first look after the jump. Read More »

Briefly: Warner Bros. just firmly planted their Oscar hopeful on the release schedule. They dated American Sniper, starring Bradley Cooper and directed by Clint Eastwood, for a limited release on Christmas Day. It’s the real life story of Navy SEAL and marksman Chris Kyle, which Steven Spielberg was once going to direct.

They’ve also shifted the release date of Guy Ritchie‘s The Man from U.N.C.L.E., starring Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer, from January 16, 2015 to August 14, 2015 and moved the Point Break remake up one week to July 31, 2015. Those two dates are interesting, especially based on the huge openings Disney and Paramount had on concurrent weekends in August. You have to think Warner Bros. is hoping for similar success. [Box Office Mojo]

Briefly: Warner Bros. has just dated two films for early 2015 release. First up, we’ll see Henry Cavill in The Man From U.N.C.L.E. months before we see him as Superman again. The Guy Ritchie adaptation, also starring Armie Hammer, has been given a curious January 16, 2015 release date. WB will also release the Will Smith‘s con-artist drama Focus on February 27, 2015. Glenn Ficarra and John Requa direct. [Box Office Mojo]

After years of trying to bring The Man From U.N.C.L.E. back to life, Warner Bros. finally settled on director Guy Ritchie, and when Tom Cruise decided not to do the film, the studio looked to Henry Cavill and Armie Hammer to play U.N.C.L.E. agents Napoleon Solo and Illya Kuryakin.

Now the film has picked a leading lady, and she’s someone with some big recent work with Warner Bros.: Elizabeth Debicki, who gave an eye-catching turn in The Great Gatsby. Read More »